Seeing Red
by Dexterion
Summary: The Team must investigate Cadmus once more as a strange phenomenon rises from its' basement. Unfortunately for them, it isn't Cadmus that's trying to create new life this time. DISCONTINUED
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING**

Gotham City  
WMPA; 15:42 EST  
Sunday

The Frisbee flew through the air as it made its arc from point A to point B. A single, small bark sounded somewhere beneath it and before it had the chance to finish its journey, a set of teeth latched on to its rim. After the small dog claimed its prize, he landed on all fours and retreated back to its owner. Upon its victorious trot back, the small crowd in the stands gave way a series of soft claps.

A female announcer spoke through her microphone, stating the dog's name and its owner, as well as a few comments and judging scores. It was the Charity Show at Gotham's WMPA for the Humane Society, one of Wayne Industries' sponsorships. Bruce Wayne himself was happily sitting amongst the crowd along with his young ward, Dick Grayson.

"Oooh, oooh, oooh! That's a cute little dog!" Dick exclaimed as he pointed his fingered at the small pooch licking the heck out of its owner's face. "Can we get one like that?" he asked, immediately looking over at his father figure.

"Dick, we didn't come here to shop for dogs. This a charity event for one of Wayne Industries' sponsorships. Our presence here will be great for them." Bruce replied, clapping his hands softly as he smiled upon the next contestant, a german shepherd. "And besides, I love dogs."

"Then why don't we get one?" Dick questioned. He had been bugging Bruce all day about the subject.

"You know why. If we get a dog, Alfred would be the one to have to take care of it; we'd be too busy." Bruce liked the idea of getting a family dog, for one, it'd make the large space of the manor seem a tad bit smaller. But the idea of foisting the responsibility onto Alfred he didn't like. It was true, if they were to get a pet, dog or not, Alfred would be the only one who was home enough to take care of it. And the old friend already had a lot to do.

"But Bruce, you said when I turn 14, which I am already, I could have a dog." Dick continued, not yet giving up on subject. His focus let the center floor of the large gym and instead rested intently on Bruce.

Bruce sighed, "We'll look into it in the near future."

"Which translates into: never." Dick pouted as he rested his chin on his left hand. His eyes left his guardian and stared out at the group of mutts lined up for final judging, however, his mind was wandering. The air fell silent between them.

"Superboy has a dog." Dick mumbled.

"Superboy has a _wolf_ that has been genetically altered by Cobra-venom." Bruce retorted.

"It's still a dog." Bruce gave Dick a glare, and Dick received it loud and clear. He sighed. "Fine. Could you at least buy me a volley ball." He stated in a downed tone.

"Why?" Bruce asked, furrowing his eyebrows and glancing over at Dick.

"So I can paint a face on it and name it Wilson."

* * *

**YOUNG JUSTICE: SEEING RED**

**BY POTATO CATS**

* * *

Gotham City  
Batcave; 16:30 EST  
Sunday

"Does Dick seem… lonely to you?" Bruce's voice echoed immensely across the cave walls. He was sitting in his chair in front of the Batcomputer watching one of the security tapes he had around the manor. The date on it read "Wednesday, January 09" and showed Bruce a clip of Dick eating dinner all by himself with Alfred bringing him some drinks on a platter. The large table made him look so small.

"Why do you ask?" Alfred replied. He was dusting some of Bruce's artifacts (or in Wally standards, his souvenirs), not bothering to turn away as the two of them spoke.

"He kept asking if he could get a dog today." Bruce informed him, pausing the tape and folding his hands together over the desktop.

"And your answer?" Alfred asked.

"No. You know what would happen, Alfred. It'd be left up to you to take care of it. With me being Batman and him being Robin and our own personal lives, we wouldn't be around enough for it." Bruce explained.

"Understandable, sir, but remember you did promise Master Dick that you'd get him a puppy when he got older." Alfred reminded.

"When he was 10. I figured he'd forget about it by now."

Alfred chuckled, "Master Bruce, a child doesn't just _forget_ about something like that. It's equivalent to a teenager, who just got their license, being promised a new car." Alfred stated. "And besides, having a little someone around the manor while you two are away would be nice. I could sure use the company."

"Company? What are you talking about, Alfred, you have all the company you need down here." Bruce joked with a small grin as he pointed upwards. Alfred paused in his work and turned to look at Bruce. He followed his gaze upwards into the ceiling where no doubt a large colony of bats nestled.

"Yes, sir, housemates that sleep upside down 24/7 is all the company I need." Alfred retorted before getting back to his cleaning. Bruce started typing on the keyboard, bringing up files he was going to present to the Team for their mission brief today.

"But yes, I agree with you." Alfred's sudden answer caused Bruce to glance over at him.

"Master Dick does seem lonely as of late. It might be a phase he's going through, but seeing how having an addition to the family is out of the question, perhaps it would be beneficiary for you to spend more personal time with him." Alfred suggested. Bruce looked back at the computer and opened up the video file from days earlier again. He played it back and rested his head on his hands as he watched on.

* * *

Happy Harbor  
Mount Justice; 16:35 EST  
Sunday

"Recognized: Robin B01" The automated female voice sounded throughout the mountain, notifying its occupants of the arrival of a certain bird.

Wally, Zatanna, Kaldur, Artemis, M'gann, Conner, and Wolf were all hanging out in the lounge watching a movie picked out by Wally. Said speedster was sitting on the couch beside Artemis eating away at the numerous snacks that littered the coffee table. When the computer announced his friend's arrival, everyone perked their head up, but Wally was the only one to react.

He jumped up out of his seat and lightly punched Artemis on the arm before dashing off towards the zeta tubes.

"Pause the movie for me, thanks!" he yelled back before disappearing down the corridor; all eyes watching him leave. Artemis returned her attention towards the movie as she grabbed the remote and held it in her hand.

"Aren't you going to pause it?" Zatanna questioned, seeing as Artemis made no move to stop the movie. Said archer smiled and chuckled before shaking her head.

"No."

Wally came to a halt in the mission room as he found Robin in uniform making his way over to him. He smiled at his friend, it being returned, and propped his hand up so that the two could high five. Robin gladly accepted it.

"Yo Rob! Long time no see. Whatcha' been up to today? Busy with the "big man"?" Wally stated, expressing the quotations with his fingers. Robin folded his arms across his chest and gave his friend a lopsided glare. Wally was the only person who knew Robin's secret ID, aside from the family and some League members, so that meant Wally could tease him about it every now and then. He was careful enough around the rest of the Team, but he made sure as to not say anything around Batman. Give that guy a reason to suspect you and he'll be on you like a hound. The cool thing was, Robin and Wally were the only ones who knew of Wally's little in-the-know.

"We may have a mission today." Robin stated, elbowing Wally in the gut for his little add-on before continuing. "Batman's been working on something big for a while now and I think today is the day we get it."

"A _big_ mission? Really?" Wally exclaimed. Robin just smiled at him. Just then the zeta tubes went off again, announcing the arrival of the Batman. He walked up to the center and tapped his finger on an invisible surface in the air. A blue screen popped up along with a keyboard and Batman began inputting his data onto the large screen for the debriefing. As soon as he was done, he activated the telecom.

"Team, report to the mission room for debriefing." Batman turned around to look at Robin and Wally.

"I assume you've already informed him." It wasn't a question. Robin looked off to the side, showing all the body language Batman needed for an answer. It scared Wally sometimes on how that guy just knew.

Soon the rest of the Team came walking into the mission room, with Wolf following. As they all gathered, Batman began.

"I have reason to suspect Cadmus is conducting more experiments as it had been a year ago. Since your last encounter, they have been able to slip away from the public's eye again and work without worry of interference."

"No offense, but how do you know that?" Superboy spoke up. As soon as the place was mentioned, he began listening intently. Wolf lifted his head up and whined at him, Conner patted his head in response.

"I've been keeping my eye on Cadmus ever since you were found there." Batman replied indifferently. "There have been recent reports of strange activity with the workers."

"Strange… how?" Zatanna questioned. She didn't know anything about this Cadmus, only what Robin had told her.

"They aren't acting like themselves." Batman replied.

"Genomorphs." Kid concluded, his eyes going wide a bit. Superboy growled, everyone glancing his way.

"We're not certain. But that's where you come in. Given your success with Cadmus before, I'm entrusting you to find out what's going on." Batman concluded. "Observe and report. Noting more, nothing less." He stated firmly. "Coordinates have been sent to Robin's com. You head out immediately."

* * *

**Hey guys, MarshmellowCat here. I just wanted to clarify a few things about my story, and because I don't like putting author notes before the story, its down here where if any one doesn't care to read them, they can just skip it. But its always good to read them, just in case there is something important.**

**Getting on with the message, my stories are mainly going to involve the Team when Zatanna joined. I'm not including Rocket solely because there wasn't enough of her character development for me to get her even somewhat down. Its safe to say all of the stories will be focusing on Robin one way or another, he's my favorite character and the main reason why I started watching Young Justice. So expect a lot of him. But that doesn't mean I'm going to leave out the others. They are a team for a reason and they are included.**

**Special note, I'm not a new writer. I've been writing fanfiction for a little over two years now. I'm just a returning writer with a new name and new interest in category. Its been so long since I've watched Young Justice and frankly, I miss it. So without further ado, enjoy the story, leave a review if you'd like, but over all, let me know how I'm doing.**

**Thanks!**


	2. Chapter 2

Heritage  
Overview; 18:00 EST  
Sunday

The Bio ship sailed invisibly over the small town known as Heritage, located just off the borders of the state's capital city, Columbus. The land was open and flat, very little hills to block out the falling sun, resulting in longer evening hours and beautiful full views to the sunset.

The seven passengers inside of the Bio ship were talking amongst themselves. Robin, seated in the back left, had his wrist com out, looking into some of the case files Batman wanted him to check out.

"So Cadmus gets up and moves to the middle of no-wheres-ville just so that they can get into more trouble? Do the bad guys ever learn?" Kid stated, spinning his seat around to face the others as he was directly up front along with Aqualad.

"It would seem that trouble finds them at every turn. Whether they are to blame, or not, our mission is clear. We infiltrate their labs, find out what we can, and do so quietly." At the last statement, both Aqualad and Robin glanced at Kid Flash. After them, the rest joined in.

"What are you guys all looking at me for?" He questioned.

"What do you think Baywatch? You're the one who runs ahead and trips over everything." Artemis retorted, putting her hands on her hips.

"In my own defense, most of those times, I was trying to find Rob." He argued, matching Artemis' posture. "And besides, that was so long ago!"

"Hey guys, listen to this." Robin spoke up, changing the subject immediately. "These are some of the reports from family members of the workers. This one in particular really caught my eye. One woman says, "My husband came home from work late and seemed tired, more so than ever, but I excused it thinking he just had a bad day at work. But later that night I was awaken to rustling in the kitchen and found him standing over the sink. He was pouring water into a glass and proceeded to drink it. I called to him, asking if he was okay, but he didn't answer me. I turned to leave, but was shaken from a loud crashing sound. I quickly rushed over to my husband to see if he was okay and found the glass he was holding broken, some shards sticking out of his fingers. I ran upstairs to get the med kit, but when I came back down I found him licking his fingers. He turned to me with a distant gaze and said, "I like it when the red comes out.""

Everyone stared at the hologram of Robin's wrist com, silence encompassed the room.

"There's another one, not as creepy, but still. Another report states how a worker randomly started using food coloring on all of his foods and drinks. The food coloring was red."

"Are the times of these occurrences similar?" Aqualad asked their youngest.

"No they're weeks, days, months a part; it's all random." The Boy Wonder answered. "The only thing that matches up is that all of these are workers for this Cadmus branch."

"We are approaching our destination." Miss Martian announced. Upon hearing this, each member stole a glance of the building they were coming up to. It looked like any other ordinary office building.

"Hmmm, small building." Kid Flash commented. "How much do you wanna bet it's the complete opposite further down?"

"Be on your guard at all times. Something wrong is going on down there and it's our job to figure out what." With Aqualad's speech, the Team stood, their seats dissolving into the floor. Kid Flash activated his stealth tech via a tap on his insignia, Aqualad doing the same, while Miss Martian telepathically changed her outfit.

The Bio ship flew down below the tree lines and hovered ten feet off the ground in a small clearing. Two grappling hooks descended down from the underbelly, and Robin and Artemis made their way to the ground before splitting up to scout out the area.

"_All clear!"_ Artemis claimed through the telepathic link.

"_Clear!"_ Robin informed as well. Superboy jumped down, landing more quietly than in his first mission, and waited for the others to join. Kid sped down his grappling hook along with Aqualad as Miss Martian and Zatanna floated down.

M'gann waved her hand up at her ship and it flew off at command. As Robin and Artemis rejoined the team, Aqualad restated the plan.

* * *

"Robin, you and Superboy will make your way down to the electric panel on the other side of the building…"

Robin did a flip over the gate, rolling once he landed on his feet before dashing off to the building. Superboy jumped the fence, running over as well before either of them were seen.

"There, you will hack into the network and freeze the security cameras. Superboy will be your guard."

Robin was typing away at his keyboard, codes flying up and down the hologram screen as he worked his way into the system. Superboy paced every now and then behind him, his eyes focused on their surroundings.

"_Okay, I'm in."_ Robin proclaimed. _"Looping the footage now."_ He spoke through the link. _"Better hurry though. If the security guards start to notice that everybody stopped roaming the halls, we're going to have a problem."_

"Once that's done, Zatanna, Kid Flash, and I will make a route through the building and to the main elevator."

Aqualad peered over the corner, watching as a lab assistant walked through automated double doors, her face fixated on the clipboard in her hands. When the coast was clear, he waved his hand at Kid Flash. The speedster nodded, pulled down his googles, and dashed off down the hall. He stopped at the end, looking left and right before giving the all clear. Aqualad and Zatanna quickly ran down the corridor, following up with Kid Flash as they then made their way to the elevator.

"Artemis and Miss Martian, you two are on look out. Keep us informed with whoever leaves or enters this building."

Artemis stationed herself on top of the building while Miss Martian turned invisible and scouted around the perimeter to check on all the entrances and exits.

"We are to rendezvous at this lab on sublevel 3."

Aqualad pulled open elevator doors, holding them open so that Zatanna and Kid could get through and jump down to the nearest ledge. He closed them quietly, following the two down the later towards sublevel 3.

Aqualad hoped down to a ledge as all three of them waited by the doors.

"_Robin, we need to—"_ As soon as Aqualad said this, the elevator doors opened, showing a smiling Robin on the other side.

"What took you guys so long?" he joked out loud. All four made their way to the lab just down the hall where Superboy was already looking around. Robin closed the doors behind them and locked it via his wrist com. He continued to type away, deactivating the loop on the security cameras out in the halls above so as to not alarm any guards.

"_A small group of workers just left out the back entrance."_ Miss Martian notified.

"_Good, keep us posted."_ Aqualad replied. The five of them looked around the room, Robin immediately going to the computers while Superboy and Zatanna scoped the lab equipment and storage drawers. Kid Flash looked at the record files Robin pulled up to see what type of science Cadmus was doing now. Aqualad took a look at the door and adjacent cabinets, keeping an eye out in case anyone did come down.

Kid Flash mumbled to himself as he read over the files Robin pulled up. After Robin was done, he ejected his USB and walked over to another computer.

"_There's nothing here. It's all normal science—well as normal as Cadmus can be anyway."_ Wally interjected through the mind link.

Zatanna walked over to a refrigerator and opened it. Her eyes widened and she doubled back a bit from what was inside.

"_Um… is Cadmus a hospital?"_ She asked with uncertainty. Aqualad, Kid Flash, and Robin all looked up at her, but Robin quickly returned his focus on the screen, typing away as if on to something.

"_No…"_ Kid Flash replied, speeding over to her side along with Aqualad.

"_Then… why is there so many blood packs in here?" _She questioned. The fridge was filled to the brim with blood packs, some of which were leaking and stained parts of the inside.

"_There's more over here too."_ Superboy chimed as he was glancing in another fridge.

"_Hey guys, you might want to come take a look at this."_ Robin stated.

"_What did you find?"_ Aqualad asked as all three joined him at the computer beside him.

"_Our profile. Nothing more than what the public knows, but it's only us three."_ Robin maximized the three files, one of himself, and the other two of Kid Flash and Aqualad.

"_What the—"_ Aqualad said, when he was interrupted by Artemis.

"_A large black van just pulled up by the front entrance!" _All of them perked their heads up except Robin who proceeded to download the files pertaining to him and his teammates.

"_Can you see who it is?"_ Aqualad questioned.

"_I… can't really tell. He has a black hood on, but he's big. Really big… unnaturally big."_ She replied.

"_Miss Martian…"_ Aqualad stated.

"_On it!"_ her voice rang through just as she floated over to the front entrance.

"_Be careful M'gann, you're not entirely invisible."_ Superboy added.

Miss Martian peeked around the corner, the van in full view. She watched as a group of men, no more than six, came out of the back with four large coolers. She hastily moved over to the side of the van and peaked in. It was empty. Nothing in it but the coolers that were just taken out.

"_They just took four large coolers into the building. There's nothing else in the van. Six men entered the building." _She relayed the info.

"_Can you see who the guy is?"_ Artemis asked, peering over the side of the roof to see if she could find anything from her angle.

"_He's… pale, really pale. He looks sickly." _She informed. She watched closely as the man walked calmly into the building. He turned around once to look at his surrounds, making Miss Martian stiffen, before disappearing through the doors along with the other men.

Robin opened up the security footage in the halls above. The six men carrying four coolers just entered the elevator along with this mystery guy and were now heading down to the sublevels.

"_They're heading this way!"_ Robin said. Kid Flash checked the door, peering down the hall at the elevator. The doors just opened and he saw them.

"_They're just down the hall!"_ he yelled through the link.

"_Everybody, into the vents!" _Aqualad ordered. Superboy cupped his hands together and lifted Zatanna into the vents, followed by Kid Flash, and then proceeding to Aqualad. Aqualad paused and turned around.

"_Robin, what are you doing, we have to hide."_

"_It's not done with the download yet."_

"_We have to go, now." _Aqualad commanded.

"_Just give me a minute!" _He replied.

"_We don't have a minute, Rob!"_ Kid added while poking his head out from the vents. Silhouettes formed on the fogged windows to the double doors. Aqualad's eyes grew and he quickly jumped up into the vents, pulling Superboy up afterwards.

Just then, the doors slid open and the six men walked in with the coolers. Robin was hidden underneath the desk, his backside against its wall. His USB cord ran up and into the computer, his download time slowly growing to 85%. The computer was located on the far side of the room, off in the corner opposite of the door, so the men couldn't see the screen while walking in.

"_Robin…"_ Aqualad asked with great worry.

"_I'm fine, they don't see me."_ He answered, but his response did little to calm their nerves.

All six of them walked over to the two fridges, loading up the coolers with the packets of blood. A voice notified everyone in that room of new company.

"Be careful with those! I don't want to lose a single drop." It was a deep voice, but filled with venom and persuasion. Robin furrowed his eyebrows and took a peak to see what was going on.

The man was standing by the door with folded arms and an annoyed look on his face. A black drench coat and a hood covered most of his body, but from what Robin could see, he was extremely pale. And they weren't kidding about him being big. This guy was bigger than Batman or Superman. There was no doubt in his mind that he could bench press eighteen hundred pounds. But what really spooked Robin was his eyes. They were red, and if he hadn't known any better, they looked like they were glowing in the darkness of his hood.

The men, now holding four full coolers, looked like any ordinary citizens. However, their gaze was distant and body movement a little robotic.

Suddenly, the download of the files was complete making the computer screen flash a different color. This small change was noticed by the pale man as he turned his attention to the far corner. He narrowed his eyes and walked over, stopping in front of the empty computer desk with the screen animating its company logo and nothing else.

With a grunt, he left, following his men out the door and back to the elevator.

The grate to the vent got pushed out and Superboy jumped down. Aqualad followed afterwards, then Kid Flash, and finally Zatanna.

"Okay, that was too close." Kid commented.

"You're telling me. Thanks Z." Robin added, his voice coming from the corner, but no one could see anything.

"No problem. Elbisiv niboR nrut" she chanted, and Robin dissolved back from his invisibility state.

"Did anyone see that guy's eyes?" Robin inquired. "They were red, blood red. This may sound crazy, but I think that guy is a vampire." He conclude. They were all taken back.

"I thought vampires were a myth." Superboy stated.

"That makes sense," Aqualad agreed, holding a hand to his chin; "the blood packets, the reports…"

"The pale skin." Kid interjected.

"The question now becomes, is Cadmus responsible?" Aqualad inquired.

"I'm not sure about that, but I know Cadmus is involved somehow." Robin added.

"Alright, let's get this information back to Batman and—" Robin interrupted Aqualad.

"Hold on, we can't leave yet. We have to find out more about this guy and why he was looking into our profiles."

"How do you know it was _him_ looking into them?" Kid Flash questioned.

"From the files I downloaded. Our profiles were searched from an account that didn't match any of the workers working for this branch of Cadmus. And on top of that, some of the security footage from our first visit to Cadmus was looked up. Specifically, our fight with Superboy when we found him in that pod. But I also found this." Robin activated his hologram computer and opened a folder containing a private Cadmus project. Superboy read it out loud.

"Project Porphyria?"

"So Cadmus _is_ involved." Aqualad concluded.

"But what does this vampire want with you three?" Zatanna joined in.

"That's what I want to find out." Robin stated firmly.

"Guys, I can't reach M'gann." The simple statement from Superboy shocked everyone as they just realized no one was talking through the mind link.

"_Miss Martian, do you read me?"_ Aqualad asked in his mind.

"_M'gann?"_ Zatanna tried, but got nothing.

_"Beautify, can you hear me? Artemis?"_ Kid Flash questioned.

"This is bad, very bad." Robin chimed as he brought up a layout of the building. "We've got four floors to check, as well as three sublevels."

"We'll split into groups and—Superboy!" Superboy was walking away when Aqualad was giving the orders.

"I'm going to find M'gann." He stated rather harshly before disappearing out the door and down the hall.

"So much for teamwork." Kid Flash commented dryly.

"We're still sticking to the plan. Robin, go after him and search the sublevels for any clues as to Miss Martian and Artemis' whereabouts. Kid, I want you to do a quick sweep of the place. Zatanna and I will start checking the upper levels." They all nodded their heads and ran off, Robin following after Superboy while the others took the elevator—Kid Flash taking the stairs.

Robin dashed down the corridor and turned right. He checked all of the rooms he passed by, but no sign of the clone.

_Superboy, where did you go? _He thought before pulling up his map and typing in a few things. Life source detection. Many red dots appeared on the screen, one in particular right behind him. His eyes widened and he quickly turned around whilst pulling out a birdarang. He stood in his stance before relaxing.

"Artemis?" Said archer walked towards him. "What happened outside? Where's—" Robin stopped as he sensed something wrong. Artemis didn't stop moving towards him, in fact, she didn't even have any expression what so ever; just a blank stare.

"Artemis?" Robin backed up a couple steps.

"Yes, Master." She said indifferently before pulling out her bow and cocking an arrow straight at him. Robin gasped softly just as the arrow was released.


	3. Chapter 3

Robin gasped softly to himself as his eyes widened at the oncoming arrow released by his teammate. Quick reflexes took control and he ducked and rolled to the right, hitting his back against the wall.

Artemis readied another arrow, but her movements were slowed compared to when she was actually herself. Robin threw down a couple smoke bombs in front of her, effectively causing her aim to falter and the arrow to miss its' target. The Boy Wonder used this opportunity to unarm his teammate, flipping out of the smoke, over Artemis' head, and landing behind her. With a quick swoop of his leg, her knees bent from the hit and she was on the ground. Her bow slid away a slight distance.

To say Robin hated this situation was an understatement. He was so not whelmed to have to restrain his friend. But he was even more furious at the fact that someone else was making her do this.

Robin approached Artemis while pulling out some wire from his utility belt. However, before he was able to kneel down, Artemis' sluggish actions took a quick turn as she quickly sped around and kicked Robin in the side of the face.

Unconsciously, Robin cried out and tripped backwards before catching his steps and back flipping into his stance.

_Stupid mistake, I left my guard down._ He criticized himself. Artemis got up and ran straight for her bow, leaving Robin with only one choice.

"Oh, come on Artemis, don't make me have to do this." He said to himself before reaching into his belt and pulling out his taser. He turned the setting down; she wasn't Superboy, and just like then, she wasn't in control of her actions.

As soon as she picked up her bow and cocked another arrow, he fired. The aim was flawless and the wires attached sent shocks out from the handheld device and into Artemis' chest.

She screamed, loudly, and Robin hated it. Artemis dropped her bow, her body going limp, and fell forwards onto the floor. Robin ran over to her side and flipped her onto her back. He took out the twangs and threw the device to the side. He picked up her bow and then curled his arms under her armpits and began to drag her unconscious form away.

"Why leave so soon?" a voice spoke from down the hall where Artemis came from. "I was enjoying the fight." The pale man, the apparent vampire, calmly walked up to Robin and Artemis.

Robin quickly, and gently, laid her back down and moved in front of her to block the man's view. Two birdarangs were clutched in his hands.

"What did you do to her?" he questioned with venom.

"Oh, so you're clever too. I like that." Was all the man replied. Robin narrowed his eyes, his mask showing it clearly.

"Why were you looking into our files? What do you want with us?" he continued to probe the guy for info.

"No, no, no. No questions now, but I'll gladly answer them when we get back." He stated rather nonchalantly.

"Sorry to disappoint, but maybe I'll appoint you once I kick your butt."

The man chuckled, "Cute."

Without warning, Robin threw down a flash bomb from seemingly out of nowhere. The light caused his opponent to shield his face and step back a bit. Once the second long exposure was cleared, Robin threw himself forward and kicked the older male in the gut, effectively knocking him backwards.

As soon as he landed and took another stance, the man had already gotten up and charged him. Robin didn't anticipate his possible speed so he wasn't fast enough to block the punch to his face, then the kick to his stomach. He did manage to block another punch to his head, but, unfortunately, not the lower swipe to his legs. Robin fell to the ground hard and was soon pinned down via a foot by the pale man.

_Ugh, I'm seriously failing today…_

"Come on, Boy Wonder. I know you have more of a fight in ya than this." The guy stated as he smiled down at his trapped bird.

"Ugh, your right. I'm only going... easy on ya." Robin choked a bit, the weight on his chest steadily getting heavier. This guy had some serious coordination.

Suddenly, a growl echoed across the hall as an unknown force plowed into the man and launched him forwards. With the weight finally off of him, Robin got up and turned around to see with wide eyes if his guess was correct. It was.

Superboy slammed the man into the wall at the end of the hall, pounding his fist into his face a couple times before it got grabbed and his body pushed backwards. The clone slid to a stop in front of Robin; both knees bent, one hand on the ground, and the other bawled into a fist.

"Where's Miss Martian!" He hollered, his anger only fueling his strength.

"Out of commission." The man replied with a deep frown, dusting himself off. "I don't like Martians, almost as much as I don't like you."

Superboy yelled and charged him again, but this time, the man was ready. He used his momentum to throw Superboy past him and into the wall he himself just got pounded into not too long.

Without hesitation, Superboy launched himself at the guy once more, the two sharing punches, kicks, jabs, and throws.

While Superboy was charged up with rage, and while the bad guy was fairly busy trying to defend himself, Robin took the opportunity to get Artemis out of there. He picked her back up, same way as before, and began to drag her off. Destination: somewhere other than here.

Down the hall, a couple lefts, one right and he reached an automatic door he had a good feeling about. Upon opening it and entering, he found himself in the loading bay, Cadmus' personal garage where supplies would get shipped in and out through a tunnel leading up to the surface.

He placed Artemis over behind some crates, sitting her bow down near her, but still a bit of a distance just in case. With his back against the concrete wall, he slid down onto his butt and activated his holographic computer on his left glove, while simultaneously turning on his com link.

"Aqualad, are you there?"

"Yes, unfortunately, we're very busy right now." The voice came through on the other end.

Aqualad was fighting alongside Zatanna, their enemies looking like The League of Shadow agents. Fully cloaked in black, face covered and all. There was only thirty of them, ten now since the battle started a while back. But five more arrived at the scene, ready to aid their comrades.

"More men have entered the building, and I don't know how many are still outside." He stated as he punched a guy in the face, one hand up at his ear.

"Have you found Superboy?" his voice rang through the com link.

"Yes, and no, more like he found me." Robin replied. "And Artemis." He added.

"You found Artemis?"

"Sort of. She wasn't acting like herself." Robin notified. "I… I had to take her down. She's unconscious."

Aqualad's eyes grew, "The vampire?" Silence came from the other end. Aqualad knew the question was a rhetorical one. And he could practically visualize the younger nodding his head.

"Right, we'll meet up where you and Superboy are."

"We're still down on sublevel three, in the loading bay. Has Kid Flash contacted you yet?"

"No, he hasn't." Aqualad kicked a villain away. A chant was heard somewhere near him, and the group of villains surrounding Aqualad got thrown together and tied up by a magical force. Zatanna hovered over to them and narrowed her eyes before turning her attention to the others.

"Right I'll contact him," Robin's voice could be heard through the com link. "I think I might know where to find Miss Martian.

* * *

Kid Flash slid to a slower speed and turned, dashing down the hallway as soon as he rounded the corner. He had searched high and low on the first and second floor for both Miss Martian and Artemis, but with no luck. Now he was on his way to the next flight of stairs to check the third floor.

As his luck would have it, as soon as he slowed to make another turn, a group of black cloaked wannabies stepped out in his way and Kid took a couple of them down to the ground alongside himself.

He grunted as he hit the floor, hearing the men he ran into doing the same. Not all were crashed into, however, because as Kid Flash regained his composure and looked up, those men were pointing guns straight at his head.

"Do you want me to freeze, or put my hands up?" he kid with them, showing a nervous smile. They glanced at each other, then at Kid Flash before charging up their weapons.

"I'll take that as neither." He said speedily, running off into a blur of black as bullets tried to follow. A right, then a left; so far the coast was clear again.

"The one thing I just _had_ to run into today was the bad guys!" he complained. If Artemis was there to see it, she would have easily taken the liberty to do so herself. I pained him to think about what could have happened to her—and Miss Martian! Her too, in fact, he worried more about Miss Martian, less of Artemis! Yea.

_Quit lying to yourself…_

Wally brushed the thought away in order to get back on track and focus on his goal. Just then, his com link beeped. He tapped the earpiece and answered the call.

"Yeah?"

"KF, quickly I need you to listen to me. I'm guessing you're the one running around on level two?" Robin's voice spoke through the com.

"Yeah, I was just about to go up to level three." Kid Flash replied.

"Don't, skip up to level four."

"What? Why?"

"Just do it. I think that's where they're holding Miss M."

"How did you—"

"I hacked the motion sensors."

"Right, I shouldn't really be surprised about that." Wally dead panned.

"There's a small storage room up on the fourth level, four people are up there, none of which are making any major movement. That just might be where Miss Martian is and her captors." Robin explained.

"Right, I'm on my way." KF started up the stairs, skipping the third level door entirely.

"When you find her, take her back to Bio ship. Afterwards, I need you down here on sublevel three in the loading bay and take Artemis back as well. She's unconscious and—"

Wally skid to a halt. "WHAT? Dude! How did you find her? What happened?" The fear in his voice was evident, and it was no hard task for Robin to pick up on it.

"Don't worry, she's fine. Get Miss M and Artemis to safety." Robin commanded awhile attempting to comfort his best friend.

Kid sighed, "Okay, lead me through."

"After you go through the doors, make a left." Kid Flash burst through the door, looking both directions before dashing off to the left.

"Pass two forks before making a right. Immediately afterwards, turn left again." KF did just that.

"At the end of the hall, second to last door on the right, that's where she's at."

"Okay, got it. Four people?"

"If you include Miss M, yea." Kid stood in front of the windowless door. There was no telling what was behind it, Robin wasn't even entirely sure, but he trusted his best friend and took the chance.

The doors burst open and KF rolled in. The three men guarding were taken by surprise and Wally easily knocked out the nearest one with a swift kick to the head. The other two quickly dove for their weapons, but Kid Flash was faster. He grabbed their guns before they even had a chance, and threw them out the doorway. With a couple quick jabs, the second guy was out. Now onto the third—

Kid had to duck before his head got lobbed off from his assailant's foot. He used his momentum to trip the man by running his whole body into his legs. Not something he planned, but it still worked effectively. He ran up to him as soon as he stood up and landed a crushing blow to his face. The guy grunted and fell down; not a movement made to get back up.

In the corner lay M'gann, her upper half leaning against the wall with one of her hands laying on her stomach. KF rushed over to her and knelt down, shaking her a bit and calling her name to see if she'd wake up. She didn't.

He picked her up bridal style and walked out of the room.

"Don't worry, beautiful," He said, "the Wall-Man is here." And with that, he ran down the corridor, down the stairs, and out the back door towards the Bio ship.

* * *

Robin dropped his hand from his ear as soon as the com link went silent. He watched on his hologram computer, seeing how the three dots started moving, an additional fifth moving faster. One stopped—Wally took one out. Soon another, two down. The third held out longer, though, but Robin watched as it two ceased to move. The one red dot, more than likely Wally, quickly collided with the other still one off in the corner of the room and then both were gone. Down the hall, down the stairs and out the door.

He exhaled, knowing soon that his friend would be back to get Artemis. There was not telling how long Superboy was going to be able to fight this… vampire. For one, no one knew anything about him, including his abilities. Robin was specifically taught to fight cautiously when dealing with knew foes. Especially those who were bigger and stronger than you. Unfortunately for him, that was the case almost all the time.

Robin ran through a list of advantages he had over this vampire. For one, he noticed how his flash bomb affected the guy, but not enough to do anything more than distract him. So he was affected by light.

Second, he obviously loved drinking blood. Robin wondered if he would get weak after a while if he didn't feed.

Thirdly, his strength. He seems to do fine when going up against Superboy. Doesn't appear to be affected when slammed into a wall creating a body-sized crater. He was _big_ and seemed to know some form of martial arts.

Robin was shaken from his thoughts as the wall he was leaning on began to rattle. Another quake shook the large room, and the young acrobat stood up.

Suddenly, the bay doors next to Robin burst open, Superboy flying through and crashing alongside the two doors. Robin shielded his face from the flying concrete before gazing over at the gaping hole.

"They put way too much Kryptonian in you boy!" shouted the pale man as he stepped through the hole and into the loading bay. In his hands were what looked like modified fisticuffs—with claws. He cracked his neck on both sides and stretched out his shoulders before turning towards Robin. A huge smile was plastered on his face.

"Now," he began, "where were we?"


	4. Chapter 4

Robin dodged what would have been a serious claw to the face. He dove to the left and blocked another, turning to run in attempt to run out into the open so that he could move better. He worked fine in close spaces, but open offered him more room to… well, fly.

The man chased him a couple feet, expecting to get a hit in on the bird's back, but was surprised to find him flip frontwards and reposition himself midair so that he faced his opponent.

Robin threw three birdarangs, all of which the man either dodged, or hit away. He charged Robin, but Robin tossed down a flash bomb. The blinding light disoriented the pale man, causing him to stagger forwards a bit while Robin flipped over and landed on his back, kicking him down onto his knees as he jumped off.

The Boy Wonder landed quite a distance away, retaking his stance in patience for the man to get back up.

"I was going to make this easy on you and your friends," the guy began as he stood up and steadied himself, "but if you're going to be like this, I guess I'll have to use means other than brute force."

Robin backed up a bit, edging a little closer towards Superboy's form. He mentally counted the seconds before the clone would wake up again.

"I'm not tiring you out am I? I was just getting started." He stated in a cocky tone.

"Au contraire;" the man smiled, "It would seem both of us are holding back." He relaxed his posture, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. When he opened them, his eyes started to glow.

Robin's ears started ringing, his vision getting fuzzy. His balance wavered and Robin fought to keep himself standing. He dropped the birdarangs he was holding and clutched his head.

The man started to walk towards him, "I'll admit, you are more skilled than I. But even so, I still have an advantage over you; just like so many others." Robin dropped down onto his knees, leaning forwards so that his head was inches from the floor. He fought the voice ringing through his head.

"I could help change that, Robin." The man stated, kneeling down beside the bird. "You have the potential to be so much more." He clutched Robin's hands, to which were holding his head, and lifted his face up to his. "Open your eyes, it's easier if you just open your eyes." He said with a deathly calm.

He fought, he fought so hard. Batman's training kicked in immediately after it started, but his strength was beginning to fail. He groaned from the pain in his head, still refusing to give in to the persuasive acts of his adversary. But the proximity, it seemed to make things worse. The cold hands covering his didn't help either. It felt like he was suspended in the air, one hand slipping from its grip on a thin bar.

The voice rang through his head, getting louder each time. It hurt, it hurt so much. He couldn't… he…

Robin's eyes opened slightly, peering into the gaze of the pale man. As soon as he looked into those eyes, he felt himself slip away. His body instantly relaxed and he stared into the eyes of the other.

The man smiled, dropping Robin's hands away from his ears and onto his lap before letting go of them. He lifted his right hand up and waved it once across Robin's vision.

"Sleep." He stated, and Robin's eyes closed. His upper half fell forward before being caught by the man. He reached down and unclipped his utility belt, tossing it aside before lifting the boy up into his arms.

The man turned and walked off, heading down the tunnel and up to the surface where he found a helicopter waiting for him. One of his men reached their hands out, taking Robin from him and placing the unconscious hero in the seat. The man climbed on board and held onto the rim. The copter rose from the ground, and began to ascend into the air.

* * *

Feet tapped rapidly on the hall's floor as both Aqualad and Zatanna ran towards the loading bay. Upon reaching the door, they found there to be none; nothing but a huge hole, and the doors laying on the ground near Superboy.

"Superboy!" Aqualad yelled as he ran towards him. He knelt down beside the clone and lifted him up, jolting him from his unconscious state as he did so.

"Are you alright?" he asked in a caring tone.

"Of course I'm alright. Where's M'gann? Did anyone find her?!" he stressed, quickly standing up with balled fists. Zatanna walked by both of them, something further on catching her eye as she paid little attention anything else.

"Relax," Aqualad said as he placed a hand on the clone's chest, easing him off. "Robin and Wally got her, I'm sure of it. Do you know where Artemis is?" he asked calmly. Superboy's body loosened up at the voice of reason and he glanced around the room with his enhanced vision. He noticed a bit of green behind some crates near the door.

"Over there." He stated while pointing in that direction. Aqualad followed his finger and saw it too, rushing over to find it in fact to be Artemis.

Zatanna's breath hitched in her throat as she stood up from where she knelt. Something was in her hands. Superboy glanced her way when he heard her gasp.

Aqualad sighed, "She's still unconscious." He announced, lifting her up into his arms and walking over to the other two. When he looked at them, Superboy was staring at Zatanna and Zatanna was staring at a familiar utility belt in her hands. She looked up at him with barely contained tears, Robin's belt clutched tightly to her chest.

"How… when…?" Their leader breathed softly.

Suddenly, Superboy lifted up is head, his eyes wide. "I hear a helicopter!"

Zatanna looked at him with fire in her eyes, glancing back at Aqualad. Both of them did.

"Go." He stated, his voice stern. "I'll find Kid and get the Bio ship. Get him back."

Zatanna needn't be told twice, for as soon as the order was given, she was off with Superboy at her heels. Both of them exited the tunnel, sliding to a halt as they looked up into the dark sky. It was barely visible, but a single light from the helicopter's underbelly gave way to its discovery.

"thgilf!" Zatanna yelled, a cloud of glittering smoke forming around her ankles before lifting her off the ground. She dashed upwards, chasing down the helicopter as Superboy jumped from rooftop to rooftop.

* * *

Aqualad ran out of the tunnel and down the street towards the other end of town where the Bio ship was waiting in an empty parking lot. He tried to run as fast as he could without jolting Artemis too much. It couldn't be helped from the movement, but he did all he could so as to not hurt her or waste any time.

Three of them, three of his teammates had suffered at the hands of this vampire thing… whatever he was. Artemis, M'gann, and now Robin. Superboy himself was injured by the man, being unconscious for how long while that thing hunted down Robin. And now he had him, why or to what end he didn't know. He and Kid Flash's profiles were included in that search, why just go after Robin?

A huge gust of wind woke Aqualad up from his thoughts. He stopped running, hearing a gasp and then a crash from behind him. Turning around with Artemis still in his arms, he saw Kid Flash struggling with his balance before running back up to him.

"Kid;" he stated, a plan forming in head. There still might be time…

"Aqualad!" Kid Flash yelled. After seeing his leader while running by, he immediately stopped, sliding and then falling down while trying to turn back around. Now he was speed walking back over to him, seeing Artemis in his arms made his body quiver.

"You found Artemis?!" he said while looking on with fear and peace.

"Yes," Aqualad replied, "I believe she will be fine once we get her back to the Bio ship."

"Here, I'll take her—"

"No," Aqualad commanded firmly. "I need you to follow up with Zatanna and Superboy. That man, the vampire, he took Robin. They're heading west."

"What…?" Kid Flash breathed out in shock.

"Kid, you're faster than me any day. If you hurry, we still might be able to get him back." Wally's eyes studied the Atlantean up and down. This wasn't happening, right?

"Go, I'll get Artemis back to the ship." Aqualad hollered back as he began to turn and run away. Wally stood there for a split second, taking everything in before his legs started back up. He dashed off, heading in the direction Aqualad told him.

_Rob… first he attacks M'gann, then Artemis and now Rob? Why? _These thoughts ran faster through his head than he himself towards his destination.

* * *

Zatanna was beginning to catch up to the helicopter now. But even she knew she wouldn't be able to do anything by herself even if she did manage to get on board. With anger fueling her strength, she uttered a spell all the while staring daggers at the flying vehicle. Right before the spell was complete, she stopped flying and hovered, stretching out her hand towards the copter. Her voice echoed through the night air just as an invisible force brought the helicopter to a complete stop.

The passengers inside jolted from the sudden stop, the pale man stumbling forward a bit before catching himself. He growled and looked up at his pilot.

"Why did you stop!?" He yelled, strutting into the small cockpit.

"I didn't!" his pilot defended with fear, pushing forward on the handles, indicating that it wasn't him who was currently in control of the helicopter.

Superboy landed down on a supermarket roof, immediately jumping back off. He dove high into the sky, closer and closer to the helicopter stuck in its place. He brought back a fist and screamed. All of his might went into the punch, slamming into the side of the chopper causing it to nearly tilt ninety degrees.

The force caused all of the passengers to fall over, Robin and two other men falling out of the helicopter completely. The pale man clutched the side of the chopper, and used it to get back up. Twisting around, he screamed with wide eyes of anger as Robin fell down towards the earth.

Zatanna gasped, all color practically melting from her face. She flew after Robin, reaching her hand out and chanting a spell. Her panic caused her to stutter, the spell messing up and disappearing before she could finish.

"No!" she cried, watching as Robin was every so near to the ground now. Her heart skipped a beat.

A black blur came running up and caught Robin right before the cold ground met his warm body. Kid Flash did a quick roll to better adjust to the extra weight.

"I got him!" He shouted to nobody in particular.

"Look out!" Zatanna's voice screamed from above him. From out of nowhere, the pale man slammed into the ground, barely missing Kid Flash in the process. The force caused Wally to trip and crash, sending both he and Robin penguin sliding across the cement. Kid tried to stand back up, but the vampire grabbed his neck with one hand and held him up off the ground. Kid choked, struggling with the man's iron-like grip.

"Get out of my way!" The man hissed with venom before throwing Wally across the street. Kid didn't allow himself to crash this time, however, and landed on his feet. He rushed the vampire, hitting him in the legs, and a few times in the arms as he made his way over to Robin's prone form.

The man growled, eyes narrowing into slits as he punched Kid flash, or at least tried to. KF was proving to be too fast for him to counter act, and Wally began to get a little overexcited. He became too predictable, and the man caught him just as he was about to kick him in the gut. He punched him in the side of the face, throwing him down to the ground.

Zatanna landed near them, running over all the while chanting another spell.

"Mih dnilb!" she screamed; a black covering sealing itself over the pale man's eyes. It was then that Superboy joined, landing and hitting the guy in the face in one fell swoop. He stumbled backwards, both hands grasping the blind. He ripped it off and punched Superboy in the face just as the Kryptonian dove for another strike.

Zatanna's voice came up from behind him, a new chanted nearly complete. The vampire quickly hit the clone again, grabbed his arm, and threw him at the enchantress. Zatanna cried out as Superboy's body collided with hers. He spun around just in time to dodge another one of Kid Flash's jabs, grabbing his wrist too and throwing him away.

"I could throw you kids around all day!" he taunted.

A black van drove up to the area, skidding sideways and coming to a stop just in time for Kid Flash to ram into its side door. He slid to the ground, unconscious. The doors opened and three men jumped out; one staying behind, keeping his gun locked on Kid Flash's body.

The other two ran over to Robin, lifting him up by the arms and legs before taking him back to the van.

The pale man walked up to a panting Superboy. Said ebony haired boy growled when he saw him, making an effort to punch the guy but he caught in. The vampire kicked him down, continuing to kick him in the head. With each hit, Superboy's head got planted further and further into the cement until he blacked out. A few more hits and the man was done, satisfied with the results.

Superboy lay there still alongside Zatanna who, was also unconscious, due to the collision with him.

The vampire took a deep breath, stumbling a bit as he placed a hand on his forehead.

"Master?" one of the men questioned, the others securing Robin inside the van.

"I'm fine," he spoke tiredly, "I just need to feed." He and his thrall returned to the van. Its' doors closed and its' wheels screeched to life. The vehicle drove off, leaving behind three battered heroes.

The Bio ship soared down towards the scene below, Aqualad guiding it. The Atlantean's breath got caught in his throat as he gazed upon his friends. He landed the ship next to their unconscious bodies, the back molding out into a ramp. He ran out, calling his friends' names. He stopped amidst them, the air around him silent, the whole street silent. Not a trace of a helicopter, no signs of the vampire or his men. The night was deafening.

Aqualad stood there, the only one left standing. Nothing could heal his broken heart.

* * *

**I just want to thank everyone whose taken the time to review, favorite or follow my story, as well as simply reading it. Thank you guys so much, I really do hope you're all enjoying it.**


	5. Chapter 5

Atremis groaned as she opened her eyes, a hand moving to sooth her aching temple. She leaned forward on the bed, the familiar sights and sounds of the Bio ship told her that she was safe and hopefully were her teammates. She glanced over, seeing Aqualad helping Kid Flash up onto his feet. Her eyes grew at the sight of him, he had a bruise on the side of his face and he was clinging onto Aqualad as he attempted to stand.

"What happened?" She asked, her voice lower than usual. She glanced around the ship, M'gann was sitting on another bed; a hand placed on her forehead as Superboy stood next to her. Despite all the beating he took, he looked alright. Aqualad was helping Kid Flash stand up, the speedster looking as if he just got run over by a truck. Close enough…

But there was no sign of Zatanna… or Robin.

Aqualad looked up at the sound of her voice, "You're awake." He said relieved. Artemis dropped her head into her right hand, feeling dizzy. "How do you feel?"

"Okay… I guess." She replied. She looked at Wally again. "What happened to you?" she asked, trying to hide that concern that sure seep through if she wasn't careful.

"I just got thrown into a semi-moving van." He said so nonchalantly.

"Are you able to stand?" Aqualad asked, one hand on his shoulder while the other was wrapped around his torso.

"Yeah, my back's soar, but… it-it's fine." Kid replied, resisting a groan as he straightened up a bit.

M'gann sighed, "I can't sense anything. I'm sorry." She said so softly, dropping her hand from her head.

"It's alright, he's probably still unconscious." Aqualad answered.

"You did your best, M'gann." Superboy comforted her as he moved closer.

."We'll find him." Aqualad said sincerely, taking a couple steps forward. "We just need…" Aqualad was at a loss for words. He tried tracking Robin, but couldn't get a more direct signal other than Heritage. He suggested using M'gann's mind link, to see if Robin was awake and hopefully within her reach, but that lead them nowhere currently. He had attempted to find the vans again, but it appeared they had a good head by the time he arrived in the Bio ship.

"Can we somehow hack into the traffic footage?" Wally spoke up.

"I believe Heritage doesn't have traffic cameras." Kaldur informed him gravely.

"Than satellite footage!" Wally was losing his patience.

"And who here knows how to do that?" Superboy replied rather bluntly.

"We have to do something! We can't just flying around Heritage hoping Rob will wake up just so M'gann could find him!" Wally began venting.

"M'gann is doing her best!" Conner argued.

"That's not what I mean!"

"Enough!" Aqualad's voice rose higher than the others'. "We are a team, and right not, we're not acting like it." He paused for a bit, gathering his words. "Arguing isn't going to help us find Robin, and I agree;" he directed towards Wally. "Flying above the town isn't getting us anywhere, but right now, it's the only plan we've got."

"Where's Zatanna?" Artemis questioned. Wally glanced behind him while Aqualad stated her being up front. Artemis slid off the bed, Wally taking a few easy steps towards her.

"Be careful, your—"

"I'm okay." Artemis interrupted him, not out of despite, but because it was true. She walked past them and out into the cockpit where Zatanna was found curled up in the pilot seat. In her hands was Robin's utility belt, her thumbs moving over the metal clasp as she looked deep in thought—or sorrow.

"Zatanna?" Artemis said, walking over to her.

"We had him. And then we lost him." She said softly.

Aqualad and the others's conversation could be heard behind the two as they talked amongst each other.

"I still don't understand why he just took Robin and not us." Wally spoke up. "We were searched too.

"I fear the only people who can answer that question would either be the vampire himself or Robin." Aqualad replied to him.

"He packed a serious punch. You… you don't think he was… part Kryptonian… do you?" Superboy questioned, feeling slightly ashamed from the beating he took.

"My best guess is as good as yours." Kid answered.

"Right now, all we know is that Cadmus is involved." Kaldur added.

Artemis and Zatanna just sat there in silence, listening to the conversation going on behind them. Zatanna continued to stare blankly at the utility belt.

"So…" Wally's tone dropped significantly; "How are we supposed to find him?"

Something clicked inside Zatanna's head as her eyes grew. She stood up and gazed at the golden belt in her hands. Artemis looked at her with curiosity.

"His utility belt!" she yelled, rushing past Artemis and running over to the others. "Could we find him using this!?" she suggested excitedly, holding Robin's belt out to them.

"Hey, yeah!" Wally stated, zipping over to Zatanna's side and taking the belt. "Why didn't I think of that?" he inquired.

"But I already tried tracking him down, all I could was Heritage." Kaldur informed.

M'gann stood up, "Hello Megan! We used the ship's radar! I'm sure Robin has his own tracking devices that may help better pinpoint his location, right?"

"More right than you know, beautiful." Wally agreed, receiving an unnoticed, roll of the eyes from Artemis. "Batman works under a specific frequency, that's how he and Rob can get away with hacks and secret research and whatnot."

"How do you know that?" Artemis questioned.

"I am best friends with Robin. It has its perks." He replied, both joking and being serious. He sat down and laid the belt out, taking a deep breath before shifting through some of the compartments.

"Okay, um… here we go." He muttered as he pulled something out. "Batarangs…" he listed off the items he found. "Birdarangs… marbles of doom… marbles of death… how the heck does he fit all of this stuff in here!" He said as he pulled out Robin's re-breather and smoke pellets.

"He has to have a pocket dimension in here, his belts only yay big!"

"Wally!" Artemis complained, seeing how her teammate was getting sidetracked.

"Yeah, I… can't find any tracker." Wally concluded.

"But, you didn't even look through it all." Conner stated.

"I looked through the pockets that I _knew_ had things in it that weren't going to kill me when I touched them." The speedster defended.

"Perhaps the tracker is hidden." Kaldur suggested.

"It wouldn't be the first time. Wait a minute…" Wally started as he looked down at an indent in the clip. "Hello, what's this?" he said as he unfastened the object and brought it up.

"Huh, I didn't know his clip was a remote! Dude, that's nifty!"

"Could we use it to trace his signal?" M'gann asked.

"I don't know…" Wally answered.

"Well then, click a button!" Artemis retorted.

"Okay, I'm the first person that would go and push _all_ the buttons, but I know from experience not to do that with Robin's stuff."

"Kid, we won't know unless we try." Kaldur reasoned with him. He knew it was probably dangerous, but that were out of options at the moment.

Wally sighed, more out of fear of what may be happening to his best friend at the moment than what would happen if he did something wrong, and pushed a button on the device. It sparked to life, sending a bit of jolts through Wally's finger and up his arm. The speedster screamed from the sudden pain and accidentally through the device up into the air.

"I told you!" He complained as he held is hand. Before the device could crash onto the floor, M'gann caught it with her telekinesis and Superboy walked over and grabbed it.

"Hey, it's blinking Robin's symbol."

"We found him?" Zatanna asked, not wanting any more than a simple yes. Kaldur took a look at the device, the symbol shrinking down to a small dot on the screen as a map of Heritage rendered through.

"Yes." He stated firmly, rushing into action as M'gann followed behind him. "Get these coordinates into the ship's mainframe." He stated before everyone took a seat. M'gann began uploading the data, a larger, and clearer picture coming up on the screen in front of all of them. The location shocked all of them, except Conner.

"He's eighty miles underground?" M'gann stated what they were all thinking.

* * *

Unknown  
8 miles under; 1:02 EST  
Monday

Robin moaned as he began to come to, blinking his eyes a couple times as his vision adjusted.

_What happened…_ he thought groggily. First thing he did was look around. He was strapped down by his wrists and ankles in a pod, outside the glass looking similar to Dr. Desmond's lab back when they found Superboy.

_Cadmus signature much?_ He joked with himself, glancing up at his wrists. He tried moving his hands before, but when he looked, he knew why. They were covered entirely with high density polyerthan foam.

_Escape is now dwindling down to… a very low percentage. _He said to himself. _Ugh, why does my head hurt?_ As he thought this, he closed one eye and tilted his head to the side. He thought back, racking his filing cabinets for any recent memories. He remembered fighting the vampire dude, after Superboy had a good run with him. He remembered Artemis, she had fallen under his influence. Then his eyes got big.

_So did I… Aw man! Batman's gonna kill me if he finds out. _He then looked up at his predicament. _Strike that, he's gonna kill me no matter what._

One of the doors off in the distance slid open, and Robin's training kicked in at full strength. The pale man, the vampire, walked in, this time wearing a doctor's white overcoat.

"You're awake, good." He said as he approached a console centered in the rather wide, but small room. "I wanted you to be conscious before performing the first stage." He pressed a couple buttons on the pad and glanced up at Robin.

Robin heard something hiss off to his left and moved his head to see. A small syringe came out and inserted itself into his arm.

"Are you comfortable?" the man asked, watching the boy's face with malicious eyes. "The first stage is often times the most painful." Robin just glared at him, the syringe taken out of his arm as soon as it got some blood.

The vampire looked down at the screen on the console, pressing a few buttons before placing his hands behind him and pacing up to his captive.

"Forgive me, it's been so long since I've communed with someone other than my own thralls." He started. "My name is Vladimir, a successful product of your favorite Cadmus Labs." He sneered at the last bit.

"Cadmus created you?" Robin prodded. If he was going to get some answers as to why he was here, he'd better just play along and asked some questions. Making it seem as if he was interested in this guys' life might make him talk more.

"Mutated, yes; created, no. I wouldn't want to bore you with a long story, so I'll shorten it up for you. They betrayed me and turned me into this. A vampire-like being. They weren't entirely successful in their original means, however." He stopped in front of Robin's pod and opened his mouth. It was a normal set of teeth, no fangs.

"A means of feeding were never given to me, and so I have to trot around hospitals to receive the blood I thirst."

"Why not just get it from the townsfolk?" Robin questioned, if he was right about this guy wanting to keep a low profile, then he might be in trouble.

"I like to keep a low profile." The man answered with pride.

_Crap…_

"I can't have the town thinking there's a rampaging murder on the loose, it'd attract too much unwanted attention. But I see my presence is getting noticed." He stated while gesturing to Robin.

"Tell me, did the Batman send you?" he asked gazing up at Robin.

"Why am I the only one here? Where's my friends?" he quickly changed the subject. Vladimir smiled.

"Probably running around town looking for you. You're the only one I need. The only one worthy really." Robin narrowed his eyes at him.

"You see my dear boy, you and I are a lot alike." He began to walk back towards the console, "I was the most experienced in my team when I worked for Cadmus; I was also the youngest. The others didn't appreciate my work, thought I was chasing childish dreams. Of course that all changed when I presented the possibility to transform a human into a vampire, powers and all. The only thing that went wrong was that they used me as their test subject!" He hissed out, placing his hands on the console and typing in a few commands. Robin's blood type, race, age, and other statistics popped up on the screen.

"So they turned you into a blood thirsty vampire and took away what would have been your primary way of feeding so that you wouldn't go on a rampage and kill everyone out of hatred." Robin finished quickly. "I'm guessing they kept you locked up, most likely frozen in stasis, so that they could try to control you and make you a…"

"…Weapon of destruction. See, we thinking alike." Vlad responded with glee.

"No, I've dealt with Cadmus before; plus, I'm just that good." Robin corrected with a gloat.

"Agreed." The man gave him a grin, "Which is why I've chosen you to join my family." Robin mentally kicked himself for being right so many times.

"You see, I'm lonely Robin. I'm all by myself, was then and still am. My thralls mean nothing to me, none of them have what I have."

"So why didn't you turn _them_ into what you are?" he questioned, trying to figure out how Vladimir thought.

"I only have the means to do the process one more time. I needed a young subject who was strong, smart, and has the power to tick off any of those Justice Leaguers should they come to interfere with my plans." He glanced down at the console and pressed a button.

"Congratulations, Robin…" An arm moved out from the side of the pod and positioned its needle towards Robin's neck. Robin looked at it, seeing how its glass was filled with some unknown yellow liquid.

"I chose you." Vladimir finished just as the needle injected its contents into his blood stream. Its effects spread rapidly throughout his body as he quickly grew cold and numb. His eyes widened as he gasped out.

"A special formula of mine," Vlad stated as he approached Robin's pod. "I won't bore you with the details, so let's just say it's a blood thinner." He grinned through the glass, placing his hands on it as he watched the process begin. Two more arms came out and injected something into both sides of Robin's hips. He couldn't move, much less make any noise from the pain. All he could do was look at the pale man in front of him.

"The first part's the most painful." He said, more caring now. Another arm came out, positioned at his chest as its needles sparked with electricity.

"But you're strong, Robin."

The needle imbedded itself into his chest, sending bolts of electricity throughout his body. A blood curdling scream broke from his lips as his body experienced shock waves stronger than any before.

"You will make for an excellent son."

* * *

**Sorry I didn't upload the chapter yesterday like I said I would. Didn't get to work on it on Monday like I had planned. I'd like to thank everyone who is reading my story, as well as following and favoriting it. If i'm able to work on the next chapter today, than chapter 6 will be uploaded tomorrow morning.**

**Thanks again for all the reads!**


	6. Chapter 6

Robin's screams echoed throughout the room as the electric currents poured into his chest and spread to all parts of his body. If he could move, he'd be thrashing like crazy at the moment, but all he was able to do was scream. He'd never felt anything so painful before, and him being Robin, that was really saying something. It felt like his heart was being ripped out!

He tried to say something through his screams, but didn't know if any words made it through all of the 'aaahhhs'.

"Hang in there Robin, just a bit longer." A slightly muffled voice came from outside the glass. Robin forced his eyes open, albeit just a little bit, to see what the guy was doing. He sounded close.

Vladimir was standing in front of the pod, his hands on the glass as he stared into Robin's eyes. Once he noticed they were open a bit, he focused his gaze and created a psychic link with the boy.

Robin's eyes quickly shut, that voice from before running through his mind again. His head whipped to the side then to the other as he tried to fight it. His ears started ringing again, unfortunately for him, he couldn't move to do anything about it.

"Wha… what are y-you… what are… y—doing…?" Robin breathed out, just now noticing the fact that his body wasn't being electrocuted anymore.

"Look at me." Came Vlad's voice through the glass.

"No!" Robin half-screamed, surprised that he still had his voice after all of his hollering only seconds earlier. The man sighed and closed his eyes. The ringing in Robin's ears increased and he let out a groan as a headache started to form. Keeping his eyes shut tight, he tried kicking his legs out, but the restrains kept them locked in place.

_Let me in. _His voice rang through the link.

_No!_

_I said, __**let me in**__…_

_And I said NO!_

_Don't make yourself more trouble than your worth, boy. _The voice hissed.

_I won't give in!_

_Will you now?_

_No… _Robin's concentration was starting to waver.

_That's it…_

_Get out!_

_Just let me take control…_

_I… said… get… out…!_

_You're slipping._

_Stop…_

_Batman might have trained you to resist, but you can't hold on forever._

The voice giggled

_You're only human._

_**I'm not.**_

Suddenly, Vladimir screamed and clutched his head, falling backwards onto the floor. He kept one hand on his head as he used the other to help lift himself up. He stumbled over to the console, relinquishing his link with Robin as soon as the blast occurred.

He growled, "I hate Martians!"

With an outstretched hand, he leaned himself against the desk, and typed in a code, the pod coming to life again. Two arms with IV tubes came out from the sides and positioned their two needles at Robin's neck. The unconscious boy hung still now, his head bowed and neck fully exposed. With more typing, the needles moved towards the skin, all four injecting themselves into the main arteries. A whirring sound came from the pod and blood started to stream through the tubes.

Vladimir watched on a monitor as a percentage steadily increased, changing from 2% to 5% in mere seconds. He smiled before grunting, clutching his head with both hands now. His grin faded into a frown, then a growl let loose from his lips. His eyes opened to show red glowing fiercely from the pupils.

His voice rang throughout the cave system, reaching his thralls as he gave his orders. Robin's friends had somehow found his lair…

"A persistent bunch you are." He said to himself. He looked up at Robin's pod, his stern expression remaining as he glared at the Boy Wonder.

"But not persistent enough." He hissed, slowing down the pace at which blood was being drained from the Boy Wonder. With that, he left the console and walked back towards the door, holding his head as he took a couple deep breathes. That mental blast from the Martian had weakened him, and he needed time to recuperate. Once he regained his strength, he could continue the process… after the children have been dealt with.

* * *

Unknown  
8 miles under; 24:24 EST  
Monday

The Team approached the abandoned mine shaft, each one glaring into its depths before they glanced over at M'gann who held Robin's portable tracking device.

"This is the place." She confirmed as she glanced up from it to her teammates.

"Right, no telepathic link this time. Since our foe possesses psychic powers, the link may have well been what initially got us caught in the first place." Aqualad announced, looking away from the mine and at his teammates.

"How are we going to communicate then, I'm pretty sure our coms are off the list too." Kid Flash commented.

"We don't." Kaldur simply replied. All of them shared a sudden look of either surprise, worry, or confusion.

"What, we're going in there acting like Batman and Robin?" Kid stated with a hint of doubt.

"Um, no offence, Aqualad," Zatanna pipped up, "but we're not exactly at that level of communication."

"It's not about communication, it's about trust." Aqualad began. "I've known you guys for over a year now, Zatanna nearly half. We've been through much together, and although we do use the link, we've always stuck to the plan and performed our part in the fight. Even back at the site, we lost communication with each other, but still pulled through. As long as we stick to the plan and trust one another that we each will do our parts, we have nothing to worry about."

Kaldur continued after a short pause. "That's how Batman and Robin can communicate without speaking. They trust each other to an end none of us can see. And right now, Robin needs that from us."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Superboy said.

"Yeah, let's get in there and kick some butt!" Kid Flash added with a mischievous smile, slapping a fist into his open hand. Zatanna smirked right alongside him.

"Good," Artemis added, taking out her bow, "I finally get to show that pale low life what I'm made of."

"Then let's move out." Aqualad commanded as they all split into their intended groups and entered the cave.

Kid Flash dashed off with Artemis on his heels, heading down one tunnel, while Zatanna and Superboy took another. M'gann and Aqualad stood in front of a fork, Aqualad choosing to take the one of the left. As they trotted down the dirt tunnel, Miss Martian hovering, Aqualad spoke up.

"Miss Martian, if you sense anything, notify me immediately." M'gann didn't answer, her eyes falling down towards the ground as she slowed down and suddenly stopped.

"Miss Martian?" Aqualad questioned with worry as he too stopped and walked back to her. M'gann was no longer hovering above the ground.

"Aqualad, I—"

"What is it?" The Atlantean stood in front of the Martian.

"When we got here, the enemy… his mind, it's so powerful here." She stated as a hand lightly touched her temple. "I read his mind," she said before her eyes grew and her head launched up. "Not that he knows, his thoughts were projected, I just picked up on it. But—"

She sighed, looking at Aqualad with concern. "I know what he wants to do with Robin. He… wants to turn him into a vampire."

Aqualad's eyes widened.

* * *

Kid dashed down the dark tunnel, his goggles helping him see through the darkness. His direction was only one way, as there seemed to be no other passages; strange for an old, abandoned mineshaft. He was starting to think its caves weren't even made for miners.

He gasped softly as he suddenly found himself out in the open of a decent size nook. Quickly, he slid to a halt and examined his surroundings. Crates piled up next to a mine cart were the only objects to greet his presence within the dark cave. His eyes followed the tracks the cart was on, leading him down the large corridor ahead of him.

Suddenly, he was hit from behind. The attack sent him flying into defense mode as he whipped around to counteract the…

Artemis stood behind him, a very unpleasant look on her face, as he glared at the speedster. With her hands on her hips, she didn't bother moving from Kid Flash's reaction.

"Artemis?"

"It would be nice for you to slow down a bit, Kid Idiot." She complained.

"What, can't keep up?" Kid teased.

"Every time you run ahead, we get caught." She argued.

"There's nothing to get caught on down here besides some tree roots." The speedster joked, but Artemis could see through the façade.

"Is that really why you ran off?" she questioned, her anger subsiding. Wally sighed.

"Alright fine. I just want to find Rob."

"Aqualad and Miss Martian are respon—" Kid interrupted her.

"I couldn't help him last time, I was…" he grunted from awkwardness of the conversation. And with _Artemis_, of all people.

"Too slow?" she finished for him. Kid looked up at her. "You're not the only one hurting. Superboy got his butt kicked, Miss Martian got knocked unconscious, and I helped the enemy find Robin." She reminded him, angry at the last bit.

"That wasn't your fault." Kid comforted. Artemis glanced away.

"I know, but the same goes for you too." She replied back, looking the speedster in the eye. Wally smiled warmly at her, before quickly fixing himself.

"Okay, who are you and what have you done with Artemis?" he joked, backing up a bit to add character. She walked up to him and punched his arm before heading down the corridor.

"Oh, shut up. Come on, we've got a rescue mission to do." He dashed up beside her before slowly down to her pace.

"Hey, quick question." Wally asked. "How comes you can see down here?"

"It's not as dark as you think, Baywatch." She replied with a slight chuckle.

Kid stopped in his tracks with wide eyes before removing his goggles and looking around. The environment was dimmed, but a light from down the corridor and a couple up the tunnel gave enough for them to see where they were walking.

The speedster's head lobbed backwards as he groaned loudly at his stupidity.

* * *

Zatanna and Superboy casually made their way down the tunnel, their mission as clear as it was for Kid Flash and Artemis. Superboy kept an ear out for any hostiles, but found that the place seemed empty, though it was a tunnel. His radius didn't pick anything up, and it had him on edge. Zatanna picked up on it and decided to act.

"Hey, don't worry about what happened before." Her voice rang out into the silence, seemingly louder than it actually was.

"Huh?" the Kryptonian inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"Your fight with the vampire." She explained further.

"You mean _fights_." The clone responded with evident anger in his tone. "I'm Superboy, I'm supposed to be Superman's clone! A replica of him! I couldn't even take out a vampire!" he complained, making sure to keep his voice low enough as to not give away their presence.

"Clone does not mean replica."

"It sure is a synonym." He mumbled back.

"Superboy, you're half Kryptonian. Do you even know who Kryptonians are, what they're like? Their culture? For all we know, they could be evil people who just want to destroy other planets." She tried to reason with him.

Superboy gave her a look, clearly her choice of words was not helping him.

She sighed and tried again, "My father… always used to tell me that the more power you possess—"

"The more responsibility you have." He finished for her. "I've heard it before."

"No," she corrected, "He told me, the more power you have, the harder it is. With magic, you have to gain the spell's energy from within yourself. With powerful spells, you have to focus more, you have to make sure you don't over exhaust yourself, and you certainly can't mispronunciation any words or else it all comes tumbling down like a house of cards." Superboy looked up at her from where his eyes were glued to the ground.

"I'm sure Superman has his own troubles, just because he's _Superman_ doesn't mean he's a _super man_." She finished.

"So… what you're saying is… I'm not weak." Superboy summarized it all. Zatanna glanced around a bit, realizing that's all she needed to say.

"Yes. We all went up against him and got sore butts." Then it dawned on her. "Actually…"

"What is it?"

"That's it! That's why we couldn't defeat him! We were only one at a time. We didn't all attack together." She concluded.

"Just think about it. All the times we went up against him, it was always one on one. If both of us go up against him, I bet he'll be experiencing more of a challenge than our last meeting." Zatanna explained.

Superboy sighed out a chuckle, "Looks like Robin rubbed off on you."

Zatanna's smile wavered, "Are you calling me dumb?" Superboy's eyes grew and he quickly looked over at her.

"No, I just meant—"

"Haha, I'm kidding." She informed him, her smile coming back tenfold.

"Oh," Superboy replied, a bit embarrassed. "A-and thanks."

"No problem." She accepted happily. They continued their walk in silence until Superboy spoke up.

"So what about you?" he asked all of a sudden.

"Hmm?"

"You must be feeling something from all of _this_." At that, Zatanna removed her eyes from Superboy's and glanced down at the ground.

"I just want Robin back." She answered sadly before continuing. "Why just him? You heard what he said, this vampire was looking into Aqualad and Kid Flash's profiles too."

"Maybe he just needed one of them?" The question was getting him nowhere as Zatanna didn't reply and didn't look up.

"Look, it doesn't matter right now. What matters is that we're down a friend, and we need to get him back before that vampire decided to do anything he'll regret." Conner stated with a good fist in palm. Zatanna glanced up at him and smiled.

"Thank you."

"No problem."


	7. Chapter 7

Aqualad hid within the shadows, only his eyes peering through the darkness as a couple of men walked down the hall adjacent to his position. He glanced down at the device in his grip, the flashing indicator displaying his destination, which appeared to be only five minutes away. His gaze removed itself from the tracker and instead focused on his surroundings. Back behind him, safely hidden thanks to camouflage, was Miss Martian. She pinned herself up against the wall, keeping the distance from the traffic tending to walk down the middle of the hall.

The Atlantean checked both ends of the hall before motioning Miss Martian to continue forward. Even though invisible, she nodded her head and floated silently down the corridor. The hall was clear.

Landing onto the ground, she removed her hood and became visible again, waving her hand for Aqualad to follow on up. He rechecked the surrounding out of habit before sneaking over, staying on the other side of the hall from where Miss Martian was.

"Okay, Robin should be that way." The sea farer pointed off to his right. Miss Martian replaced her hood and camouflage before floating down the hall. She checked and rechecked again, listening intently for any signs of the enemy. With nothing, she repeated her last action. Just as before, Aqualad checked the hall he was currently in and then proceeded to catch up with his teammate.

"Through that door." Aqualad whispered as he pointed up ahead. The two glanced at each other before bolting.

The door was kicked off its hinges thanks to Aqualad's Atlantean strength. It crashed on the floor ahead, scaring the guy, who had his back turned, out of his skin. The only one in the room, he looked at the hero with surprise and placed the object he was holding down on the table behind him.

Miss Martian floated in and raised her hand, sending the man flying backwards and smacking into the stone wall on the far end of the room. He crashed to the ground, not a movement shown as his body lay still.

Kaldur rushed over to the desk, noticing how the tracker in his hands indicated the location to be here. He furrowed his eyebrows before picking up the glove on the table.

"Where is he?" Miss Martian asked, coming over to her leader's side.

"He's not here." He stated grimly, holding up Robin's left glove that held his portable computer. They both sighed, before Aqualad took both gloves and turned around. "Come on, we have to keep looking. He's got to be around—"

"AHHHH!" M'gann screamed as she clutched her head and fell onto her knees.

"—Miss Martian!" Aqualad called, running over to kneel down beside her. He gently grasped her shoulder, his face leveled with hers.

"It's Robin! He's in pain!" she informed with falling tears. She tossed her head back and forth, her eyes shut tight as she whined.

"Where is he?" Aqualad pried. M'gann bolted upward, running forward a bit.

"I have to do something!" she hollered, her eyes glowing white. Aqualad caught her arm and brought her back to face him.

"No! You can't! If we get discovered… we can't afford it, _he_ can't afford it!" He reasoned, grasping both of M'gann's arms. She looked at him with a horror stricken expression, her hands dropping down from her head.

"Right," she whimpered out, looking downward as an idea popped into her head.

_I'm sorry, Aqualad._

Closing her eyes, she replaced her hands to her temples. She hid her face from her leaders' so he wouldn't see. "I—I think I can locate Robin." Aqualad relaxed a bit, releasing his grip on her. He gave her the go ahead.

Her mind reached out, the very order given to her ignored as she wandered over to Robin's consciousness. The pain from earlier was gone, but still lingering as a nightmarish thought. She was about to speak when another voice rang beat her to it.

_Let me in…_

She mentally gasped.

_No!_ Robin's voice echoed back in protest.

_I said, __**let me in…**_

_Robin! _She thought to herself.

_And I said NO!_

_Don't make yourself more trouble than your worth, boy. _The voice hissed.

_I won't give in!_

_Will you now?_

_No… _she mentally gasped out.

_No… _Robin's concentration was starting to waver.

_That's it…_

_Get out!_

_Just let me take control…_

M'gann racked her brain, anything other than her current idea.

_I… said… get… out…!_

_You're slipping._

_I can't… _she told herself.

_Stop…_

_I can't help without endangering the mission…! _She told herself.

_Batman might have trained you to resist, but you can't hold on forever._

…_but he needs my help! _She screamed to herself.

The voice giggled.

_You're only human._

M'gann fear instantly vanished as the phrase 'being human' rang through. He was right; Robin was only human, as was Kid Flash, Artemis, and Zatanna. Half the case with Superboy! But she wasn't.

Her eyes opened to a white glow as she made contact with the assailant.

_**I'm not!**_ She snapped back with ferocity, sending a powerful brain blast his way. The connection was lost immediately afterwards, the white glow fading away from her eyes. She looked up at Aqualad, the Atlantean sporting a puzzled expression.

"I know where he his!" she announced swiftly.

* * *

The dirt floor gave way to a metal-platted midsection; a couple support beams lining the walls as Artemis and Kid Flash continued along their path. The two trotted side-by-side, Artemis clutching her bow and an arrow out in front of her. It had been a while since they saw or heard of anyone else; no people, doctors, scientist, or vampires had come after them since entering the labyrinth of the cave. It put both heroes on edge. If this place was supposedly a sanctuary for this vampire dude, why wasn't it crawling with thralls? It was quiet, and they didn't like it.

Shuffling was heard to their left and both heroes whipped into a fighting stance. Kid spread his legs apart, reading to run, while Artemis cocked her arrow towards the noise. Upon fixing their focus, they noticed a small mouse scurrying along the side of the hall. Running away, he dashed ahead and disappeared around the corner of an upcoming intersection.

Both sighed and relaxed, Kid chuckling as he watched Artemis.

"Calm down, Artemis, it's just a mouse." He teased, earning a whack to the face with her bow. He grunted on its impact.

"YOU flinched too." She answered back, annoyed at his choice of 'fun'.

"Not as much as you." He continued.

"At least I was ready to _fight_. You were probably a second away from running off. That _is _what you do best." She retorted.

"Why did Aqualad put me with you?" Kid questioned with narrowed eyes.

"Good question." She agreed sourly. She looked off down the corridor, her façade fading as she glanced down grimly. Why did she always fight with him? It wasn't like he deserved it… most of the time.

"Hey, did you hear that?" his voice came up from behind her, taking her out of her thoughts. At his acknowledgment, she began to listen. A distant, low rumbling sound reverberated down the hall. It was there before.

"What is that?" KF questioned, taking a few steps forward.

"It sounds like machinery." Artemis shared. They both ran up to the intersection, checking the adjacent halls for anyone before listening for the noise.

"It's coming from down there." Artemis pointed out, lifting a finger to her left. They followed the low rumble for a couple minutes, keeping a look out for anyone and anything. The sound lead them through the cave, down a flight of make-shift stairs, and up to a sealed, automatic door.

Artemis tapped on it lightly, not trying to arouse anyone inside of their presence. Kid glanced down at a pad on the wall, getting eye-level with it for better observation.

"I think it's locked." Artemis informed as she felt the rim of the door, seeing as there was no door handle.

"And I bet this is what opens it." Kid Flash added, pointing at the pad.

"Hand-print?" she asked, but Kid shook his head no. "Well, it's not an eye scan." She stated as the device was positioned too low for such. Wally tapped the pad before flinching back as a small portion of the bottom jutted outward. A tiny needle faced upward at the speedster and archer. Both shared glances.

"Blood, well, that's original." Artemis commented dryly, dropping her shoulders as their chances of getting access to this room was now very slim.

Kid placed his pointer finger over the needle, "Should I?"

"How do we know it's not just looking for that vampire's blood?" she questioned.

"It's worth a shot." He glanced at her, looking for some condolence with his choice of action. She looked at him, obviously deep in thought, before closing her eyes and shaking her head.

He pressed his finger down on the needle, lifting it up quickly as the pinch caused his brain to react. He shook his hand before looking down at the needle point, blood already oozing out of the tiny opening.

The plate retracted back into the pad, its screen coming to life as it began to decipher the sample. It flashed green and the door hissed, sliding open.

One look inside told them everything this room was meant for. They both walked in, the door closing shut behind them, and glanced around with wide eyes.

It was a small room, six computers lining both sides of the room with a metal science table centering it. Papers were scattered on the desks underneath the computers which were attached to the walls, while only one fold sat on the science table. Artemis picked it up and flipped it open.

"Oh my gosh," she breathed out softly. Wally glanced at it from her right. "These are reports from Gotham about Batman and Robin." Wally searched the other desks, finding similar reports of Star City and one about the theories of Atlantis.

"This is where he did his research." The speedster concluded, flipping through the papers, finding newspaper photos of himself and his uncle. He looked up at the photos tapped to the bottom of a computer, his face and one of Aqualad's marked out with a giant X.

Artemis moved to the computers off on the other side of the room, popping up video files that were currently minimized.

"Wally." She called him over. In the blink of an eye, he was right beside her watching the video.

It was an old surveillance tape showing a large room with a single pod, wire and tubes hooked into it from various angles in the back. A young man, no older than eighteen, was strapped in the pod. Several scientists held clip boards, taking notes on the man's vitals and condition.

"Do another round." One of the scientists ordered calmly before jolts of electricity where sent into the teen's chest. The footage was in black and white, its audio crackling, but warm in the human tone. The teen's screams weren't nearly as loud as video showed.

The whole scene reminded Kid Flash of when Cadmus had a controlled Superboy capture him, Robin, and Aqualad. Placed in those pods to eject their blood and DNA for cloning. From the look and sound of the video, this seemed to have been taken long ago, early 1940's at the latest.

The experiments went on; painful injections had been given to the young man as well as more shock treatments. For a second, he figured this was some freaked out therapy session; that is until the next treatment. Two needles were injected into the young man's neck, blood being drained out the tubes connecting to them.

"Remove forty percent, let it regenerate, and then remove it again. Repeat the process." One of the scientist read from his clipboard.

"What are they doing?" Artemis questioned with a disgusted look.

"They're making him into a vampire…" Wally concluded, seeing how that teen in the pod had a few similarities to the pale dude that took Robin.

"How does that even work?" she questioned, removing her gaze from the screen.

"It's Cadmus." Kid replied simply, he didn't need to explain more.

"Wally," Artemis tapped him on the shoulder and pointed behind him. "Where does that door lead?"

There was, in fact, another door in the room, directly parallel from the one then entered through. The only difference between the two was that this door had no pad lock, had a handle, and wasn't locked.

Kid opened the metal door and both step in. Another small room, more crowded though. Wire and tubes lined the walls, all connected to a single pod at the end. A console and screen showing life signs sat off to the left, a short walk from the door and the pod. But what was inside was what froze both teens.

"Rob!" Kid Flash screamed as he ran over to the glass concealing his friend. He placed his hands on the glass and leaned in, his mouth hanging open as he peered at his best friend.

Four needles were injected in his neck, two on each side, all of which were draining blood from his body. The raven haired boy himself was still, his head bowed from apparent unconsciousness.

"Rob, dude, can you hear me?" Wally asked, fear lacing his voice.

"I'm… awake…" a small, soft reply sounded from within the pod. Robin's head lifted up slowly, his eyes barely open behind the mask as he looked out at his friend's face. He wanted to smile, but couldn't. Wally looked terrified.

"Wally, we need to shut this thing off!" Artemis announced from behind. He ran over to her and glanced down at the console.

"33%?" he read off, noting that any more blood taken was now life threatening. "Artemis, see if you can get the pod open, I'm gonna try to stop this thing." She didn't need to be told twice, already over by Robin as soon as Kid called her name. She placed her bow on her back and wrapped all fingers around the crevice of the pod. Upon pulling, she found no such luck at opening the glass.

She grunted with effort, "It won't open! Maybe there's a button over there!"

Wally stuttered as his fingers zoomed around the console. The blood drainage was now at 35 %. Robin moaned and closed his eyes, wincing a bit as he tried to move his head. Artemis watched with horror, whipping her head around toward her teammate.

"Wally, hurry!"

"I'm trying! I don't know how to work this thing?"

Robin's breathes were heavy, his heart rate fast. His skin was extremely pale and his body unresponsive. Confusion riddled his brain as he tried to move but couldn't, and even when he did manage to twitch, it felt slowed like one of those dreams where no matter how hard you try, you're stuck in slow motion.

"Wha…" he murmured incoherently, a sign both Wally and Artemis knew was bad.

"Wally!" Artemis shouted back. Kid had just pressed a button on the console before looking up at his two friends. The evident machine behind the pod crackled, and died down, the percentage on the screen stopping at thirty seven.

"I think that did it." The speedster stated with a huge sigh, rushing over to Artemis and helping her open the glass door. The thing hissed, and released its grip, allowing Kid and Artemis to reach in and pull away the needles inserted in Robin's thighs.

"Careful, careful!" Wally urged, getting an annoyed look from Artemis.

"What do you think I'm doing, Kid Idiot?!" she half-screamed at him. When those needles were out, they moved on to the ones at his neck.

"Crap…" Wally spat out. "Do you have any bandages?" he asked Artemis. She shook her head in response. "Right. Rob, can you still hear me?"

Robin moaned.

"I'll take that as a yes." Wally replied. "We're gonna get you out of this thing, but I need you to put pressure on your neck once we get the needles out. Can you still move your arms?" He questioned, watching his friend with pain in his heart.

"We'll need to get his hands free first." Artemis said, taking out an arrow and pointing at the foam above Robin's head. She burned through the stuff in no time, digging his hands out as quickly and gently as possible before moving on to the ankles. Wally kept him up, seeing how Robin's free hands weakly reached up at the needles in his neck.

"Hang on." He intervened, putting a hand on Robin's.

"Got 'em." The blonde announced as the iron clasps broke. Both of them, grabbed a metal arm and counted to three before pulling out the needles. Robin grunted from the numbing pain coming from his neck and tried to apply pressure with his nearly uncooperative hands. Artemis twisted him around as Wally picked him up bride style. Blood began to seep through his fingers and run down his arms.

"He's going to lose too much blood." Artemis exclaimed in sorrow, watching as the red cells began dropping off onto Kid's arms.

"No, no, I can make it if I hurry." He proclaimed, glancing up at his teammate as if looking for a correction.

"What are you waiting for?" she questioned. At that, Kid was gone, the wind attempting to catch up with him as he sped off at speeds unnatural for any human.

Artemis stood in her spot for a while, glancing around the room, trying to register everything that was happening. This man was trying to turn Robin in a vampire…

She shook her head and ran out, just about to open the second door before stopping and glancing over at the science table. A red leather book sitting beneath a pitcher caught her attention. She reached out and grabbed it, opening the first few pages up and taking a look.

_A journal…_

She closed its cover and took it with her, running off to the Bio ship in hopes of catching up with Kid Flash.

* * *

**Hey, Merry Christmas to all my readers! I wanted to get this chapter posted before going on break, a little Christmas present for you guys. I really appreciate all of the traffic coming in and out, love to see people reading my stories. Sorry if the ending was a bit of a cliffhanger, but hey, better to keep you entertained than bored. I'll be updating weekly as I have been, but with my limited internet access right now, next week might be troublesome. Expect a late update, but expect one all together. :)**


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